Means for cutting fish



'june 24, 1941.

' A. L. CHRISTIANSEN I MEANS FOR CUTTING FISH Original Filed April 1,1955 Attorney Patented June 24, 1941 7 MEANS FOR CUTTING FISH Andrew L.Christiansen, Willowbrook, Calif.

Original application April 1, 1935, Serial No.

14,052. Divided and this application December 6, 1937, Serial No.178,201

4 Claims. (01. 17-4) My invention relates to fish machines andparticularly to a machine or device for cutting or splitting the bellywalls of fish.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a device ofthis class whereby a knife is so drawn over the belly Walls of fish thatsubstantially only the thin belly wall is cut or split and whereby theentrails remain whole, and further to provide such a device which willperform this function on fish of considerably different sizes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a very simple andeconomical device for performing the above function.

With these and other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, I havedevised a novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements aswill be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth inthe appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing andto the characters of reference thereon, which form a part of thisapplication, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an embodiment of myfish belly-splitting machine in a preferred form; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation thereof, taken on the line 22 ofFig. 1.

This is a divisional application of my copending application for Fishcutting machines, Serial No. 14,052, filed April 1, 1935, now PatentNumber 2,166,939, dated July 25, 1939. Only the parts and portionsnecessary to the understanding of this invention will be here referredto, the other and cooperating portions of the whole machine areillustrated and described in the aforementioned application.

The conveyor l, consisting of V-shaped links l provides a V-shapedchannel moving longitudinally in the direction of the arrow A. Thisconveyor carries in its channel fish on their backs, that is, with theirbellies uppermost, as indicated by B. These fish may be of varioussizes, and either whole or sectional, that is, the entrail sections withthe head and tail ends removed. Longitudinal movement of the fish orsections thereof within the channel of the conveyor is substantiallyprevented by barbs or prongs l extending into the channel from theinclined.- walls forming the channel.

My cutter, for splitting the belly walls of the fish, consists of acircular cutter or knif H,

' mounted on and rotatable with a spindle l2.

This spindle is rotatably mounted at the free end of an H-shaped framel3 which is pivotally supported at its other end on a shaft l4. Thlsshaft may be driven in any suitable manner, such as, through gears 15and I 6 from a common drive shaft I! supported on a frame iii. Thespindle [2 has a sprocket 2| which is driven by a chain 22.from asprocket 23 mounted on and driven by the shaft l4.

At the opposite sides of the circular or disc cutter l l are positionedshoulder discs 3| which are secured against and rotated with the cutter.

The faces of th disc 3| are relatively wide and are spaced backwardly orinwardly from the cutting edge of the cutter I I a distancesubstantially that of the belly wall of the fish to be split. The facesof the discs 3| provide shoulders which ride or rest upon the fish andthus limit the depth of the cut, or make a uniform depth incision fromend to end of the fish, or section thereof.

The frame l3 extends downwardly at an angle in the direction of theapproaching fish in the conveyor l. The downward position is limited byan adjustable stop chain 4| which connects the free end of the H-frameto the machine frame l8.

As the fish approach the cutter II, in the direction of the arrow A, theshoulder discs 3|, which are rotated in the direction of the arrow C,crawl and ride upon the fish, thereby raising the H-frame I 3 asrequired, and allowing the cutter l l to make a longitudinal incision inor to cut through the belly wall of the fish. The cutter may then dropdownwardly until it is again raised by the next fish.

By reason of the particular downward inclination of the pivoted frame l3and the particular rotation of the cutter II and shoulder discs 3|, thelatter are easily raised, and at the same time the fish are held in thechannel of the conveyor and are assisted in their progressive movement.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction,combination, and arrangement of parts and portions of the aparatus of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited to the same, but desire toinclude in the scope of my invention th construction, combination, andarrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine'of the class described, a conveyor having a longitudinalchannel open at its top adapted to receive and convey fish on theirbacks, and a vertically shiftable cutter extending into said channel forsplitting the bellies of fish therein, said cutter having a wideshoulder spaced backwardly from the cutting edge of the cutter adistance substantially equal to the thickness of the belly walls to besplit, and so positioned as to ride directly upon the fish and limit thecut through the belly walls, said cutter being mounted sufiicientlysensitive so as to be raised and lowered by the fish advanced by theconveyor.

2. In a machine of the class described, means for conveying fish ontheir backs, a cutter supporting frame pivotally mounted at one endabove the conveying means and depending from the pivotal axis at aslight angle toward the approaching conveying means, means for limitingth low position of the frame, a cutter rotatably mounted on the free endof the frame with the plane of the cutter in line with the conveyingmeans and adapted to extend into the latter, the cutter having ashoulder spaced backwardly from the cutting edge of the cutter adistance substantially equal to the thickness of the belly Walls to besplit, said shoulder being adapted to ride directly upon the approachingfish for limiting the depth of cut of the cutter into the belly walls ofthe fish, said cutter being mounted sufiiciently sensitive so as to beraised and lowered by the fish advanced by the conveyor.

3. In a machine of the class described, movable means for conveying fishon their backs, a cutter support shiftable vertically with respect tothe conveying means and a cutter rotatably mounted on the supportadjacent the conveying means,

said cutter having a wide shoulder spaced backwardly from the cuttingedge of the cutter a distance substantially equal to the thickness ofthe belly walls to be split, said shoulder being so positioned as toride directly upon the fish and limit the cut through the belly walls,said support being mounted sufliciently sensitive so as to be raised andlowered by the fish advanced by the conveyor, the edge of thecutter andthe surface of the shoulder being movable in the direction of movementof the conveying means.

4. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor having a continuouslongitudinal channel open at its top, adapted to receive and convey fishon their backs, a cutter support shiftable vertically with respect tothe conveyor, and a cutter rotatively mounted on the support adjacentthe conveyor, said cutter having a wide shoulder spaced backwardly fromthe cutting edge of the cutter a distance substantially equal to thethickness of the belly walls to be split, said shoulder being sopositioned as to ride directly upon the fish and limit the cut throughthe belly walls, said support being mounted sufiiciently sensitive so asto be raised and lowered by the fish advanced by the conveyor, the edgeof the cutter and the surface of the shoulder being movable in thedirection of movement 01' the conveyor.

- ANDREW L. CHRISTIANSEN.

